Remix projects don’t come any better than this. A horde of talented musicians come together to offer their vision of the little bomb resulting of the collaboration between Mike Paradinas and Jochem Paap, released three years ago under the strange Slag Boom Van Loon banner. So Soon is one the most anticipated record of the year, and it delivers… Boards Of Canada are first in line, as they soften the rough edges of Poppy Seed. The radiating warmth emerging, at the end of a slow build up, is typical of their unmistakable sound. The original melody, slowed down slightly, is coated in analogue sounds, faint vocal samples and laid down on a peaceful beat. Spc-Ch-Pn gets a radical reworking by Mike Paradinas himself. There is very little left of the piano-lead track. Instead, the µ-Ziq remix is a deep dive into pulsating beat and dub, territory usually fiercely guarded by Pole, who also contributes to the project, as he transforms Casual into a mutating dub, characteristic of his work. Both tracks are somehow quite similar. Paradinas and Stefan Betke build on bleeps and glitches, slowly bringing the underlying melodies to the forefront of their respective pieces. Paradinas’s label mate Leafcutter John takes on Broccoli, submitting it to the electro-acoustic treatment he is familiar with. John Burton deconstructs the track to the point when it seems made-up of countless little vignettes stuck together. This collage of field recordings is as an incongruent sonic experience as his own album. Matmos follow a similar path, although the result is slightly more conventional. The San Francisco duo do to Moon Base Alpha what they do best, that is playing up with diverse sound sources, injecting some funny funky electro to the only track featured here which was not present on Slag Boom Van Loon, while Coil’s cinematic orchestral version of Fallen Angels Entering Pandemonium is dramatic and threatening. Tipper revive their glitch-generator on Butch, giving the track an abrasive makeover, while Horse Opera’s clicks and radio signals invade Pedals. Kieran Hebden provides here one of the best moments of So Soon, when Sutedja gets the Four Tet treatment. The warm, human, laidback beat, layered keyboards, and melodica, all contribute to an emotional reworking, as Hebden takes the track far away from the original. Boards Of Canada bring So Soon to a close, with the reprise of their remix of Poppy Seed, bringing the album full circle. So Soon proves to be one of the most exciting albums to come out this year. The artists involved in this project have contributed to give a new direction to an already excellent record, handing Mike Paradinas and Jochem Paap with a second masterpiece.